Internet service provider Internode today launched a new type of naked ADSL2+ service, using its own equipment at telephone exchanges to increase the range of its fast broadband.

Simon Hackett(Credit:Internode)

The company flagged the launch of the NakedExtreme service
a month ago, saying it would lease the unbundled local loop service from Telstra and use its own equipment
to provide naked DSL, because using the alternative line sharing service restricted
the distance from the exchange at which broadband could be offered
to around 4km.

"Any further and our customer connection attempt is rejected
with the declaration 'transmission loss too high'," Internode
managing director Simon Hackett said in a statement.

"That message occurs if the line produces a signal attenuation
over its length exceeding the allowable limit for a traditional
analog voice service. Since NakedExtreme uses an unbundled local
loop service, it doesn't need to co-exist with analog telephony,
which means we can deliver broadband much further from the
exchange," Hackett continued.

According to Internode, this meant that the coverage area for a
telephone exchange was tripled from 52 square kilometres to more
than 176 square kilometres, and the distance from the exchange
at which naked DSL could be provided increased to 7.5km or more.

Previously the company had been offering naked DSL using Optus' network.

Internode launched NakedExtreme nationally, except in Tasmania,
where the company stopped offering high-speed services because it
said there was a lack of competitive backhaul services in that
state.

Internode has set the price of NakedExtreme at $10 above the
cost of the equivalent Internode Extreme ADSL2+ service.

According to iiNet, however, when Internode first
flagged the service, it already offered naked DSL on its own
equipment, achieving similar distances.
"We've had some customers working at six to seven kilometres.
Some of them get a fantastic service," iiNet CTO Greg Bader said at the time.